DIPLOMACY: French and Dutch Foreign Ministers to visit Cyprus

The Foreign Ministers of France and Holland will be on the island this week told hold talks on the Cyprus problem and bilateral ties.

Netherlands Foreign Minister Stef Blok will hold talks with his Cypriot counterpart Nikos Christodoulides on Thursday at the Foreign Ministry in Nicosia.

“The meeting will be followed by bilateral consultations between official delegations from the two countries, during which the full spectrum of bilateral relations will be reviewed, and regional, European and international issues of common interest and concern will be discussed, including the Cyprus problem,” said an official statement.    

Blok will be visiting the island for the first time as Minister of Foreign Affairs and departs from Cyprus on Thursday afternoon.

He will be followed by French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian who pays a working visit to Cyprus on Friday. He will be received by the President Nicos Anastasiades and will hold talks with Christodoulides.

During his one-day visit, Le Drian will tour the Green Line in Nicosia (UN-controlled buffer zone) and hold meetings with the UN Secretary General’s Special Representative, in Cyprus, Elizabeth Spehar, and the Committee on Missing Persons in Cyprus (CMP).

He will also decorate former Foreign Minister Ioannis Kasoulides with the Order of the Legion of Honour (Officer) which is the highest decoration in France, during an event that will take place at the residence of the French Ambassador to Cyprus, Rene Troccaz.